CARB issues $2 million in Truck and Bus fines in 2013

By Charlie Morasch, Land Line contributing writer | Monday, May 12, 2014

As a verbal no-holds-barred battle royale occurred during April’s monthly California Air Resources Board meeting, several of the more than 100 public speakers slammed the state environmental body.

Although CARB has been moving to help small trucking fleets obtain more time to comply with the state’s $1 billion Truck and Bus Rule, several speakers said noncompliant companies aren’t being hounded by air quality enforcement officers.

“No one is fighting for the little guys who have complied,” said Shelly Archer, owner of Archer Trucking. “I beg you to tie compliance to DMV registration.”

As it turns out, CARB has already been enforcing the Truck and Bus Rule – to the tune of $2 million in fines last year.

CARB recently announced settlements with 256 truck owners over air quality violations by truck and bus fleets for fines of nearly $2.2 million. Violations included failure to comply with the following: California’s Truck and Bus Regulation, verification/certification procedures for diesel particulate filters, properly self-inspecting diesel fleets to meet state smoke emission standards, and dispatching compliant trucks on California highways.

The remaining 209 cases, CARB said, were settled below $10,000 and total $449,838 in penalties.

“ARB’s diesel risk reduction program is designed to limit the amount of harmful pollution from diesel engines,” CARB Enforcement Chief James Ryden said, according to the release. “Companies who fail to comply with the regulations are contributing to that pollution, and that is when ARB must take action.”

$1.7 million of the fines will go to the California Air Pollution Control Fund and the Peralta Colleges Foundation. $417,167 is designated to the college district to fund diesel emission education classes and diesel technology certificate and degree programs. And $57,562 will go to fund school bus diesel particulate filter installations.